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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This had been on my radar for a bit - the love of theatre against the backdrop of war sounds like my ideal book. Alas, this one missed the mark for me despite holding so much promise.
Cristobel is a young bored orphan girl in her lofty countryside home in Dorset England when the unthinkable happens: a whale washes ashore. She claims it as her own and makes a theatre out of its bones with her step-siblings Digby and Flossie. Spanning from their adventurous and sad childhood to the three being scattered adults during imminent WWII, we get to see see how they all grow up.
The unfortunate thing about this book (for me) was that I LOVED the first 100 pages and the last 80. I was so invested in their childhood and the whimsical theater troupe they made as kids. I was also riveted by the end and what happened to them all. But the middle 400 freaking pages were a slog for me lol. I did care for Quinn’s writing style and would read what she writes next. This was a skillfully written debut, it just really needed a more ruthless editor IMO.
✨Content Warnings: War, Death, Death of a Parent, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Medical Content, Child Death, Classism
Helaas een beetje een deceptie :( Mama vond dit boek prachtig maar ik was er helaas niet heel erg van onder de indruk! Het is duidelijk dat Quinn kan schrijven, en er zaten zeker soms mooie stukjes tekst tussen maar ik vond de personages te gekuntseld (de stoere, de slimme, de spontane, de out-of-the-ordinary blablabla) waardoor ik de hele tijd een soort gemaaktheid voelde en niet écht in het verhaal kwam. Ik vond het te erg middle-class-people with problems, die mogen er ook zijn natuurlijk, maar het greep me niet. Sommigen stukken over theater best mooi, maar ook best cliché. Toen het ineens halverwege een oorlogsroman werd waren er echt wel stukken boeiend om over te lezen maar nogmaals niet genoeg voor mij helaas! Kan ook aan mij liggen want oorlogsromans & ik gaan nooit echt samen, ook 'All the light we cannot see' heb ik niet van genoten terwijl iedereen daar lyrisch over was. Maar goed, dit boek uitgelezen omdat ik na de vakantie al zo ver erin was dat ik benieuwd was hoe het eindigde maar helaas niet nieuw lievelingsboek!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was a peculiar one because I was interested enough to keep reading it for TWO WEEKS but also so flipping dull that it took me TWO WEEKS to read it.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loved this book so much!